Door.



F. H. HOPKINS.

DOOR.

APPLICATION rILnp JAN. 27, 1912.

1,099,878. Patented June 9,191

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

F. H. HOPKINS.

DOOR.

APPLICATION rum) JAN. 27, 1912.

, 1,099,878. Patented June 9,1914.

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'I IIIIIIIII [I'll (6544 o e 1% 0 'v 35 FE/l/V/I H. HOP/WW6 651a O/Wommvj F UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE".

FRANK H. HOPKINS, 0]? M0IN'JYItIFlA-L, QUEBEC, CANADA, .ASSIGITOB,v TO NATIONALv DUMP CAR COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A; CORPORATION OF MAINE.

DOOR;

Specification. otiLet-ters Patent.

Patented June 9, 1 914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I FRANK. Hxnrwmm HOPKINS, of the city of Montreal,.Provinoe of Quebec, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Doormand I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

This invention relatesto a means for sealing the joint between the edges of doors closing the discharge openings of hoppers or bins and is designed especially for application to the drop doors of dump cars;

The invention has for an object to provide a simplified form of device for sealing the door edges and which will also permit of an ordinary box car being economically used for the transportation of grain orv other comminuted material by enabllng the doors to be constructed into and form part of the. usual flooring of the car.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and appended claims, and to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification in which similar referenoe characters indicate the same parts and wherein Figure 1 is a lan view of a door with my invention embo ied therein, the door being shown as forming part of the flooring of a box car, a small portion of which latter is shown; Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2 2 F i 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on tie line 3 3 Fig. 1.; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail vertical section showing one edge portion of the-door and the adjacent portion of the door frame, this view being taken on the line 4 4; Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical detail section showing the hinge edge of the door and the adj a.- cent portion of the door frame, this View being taken on the line 5 5 Fig. 1; Fi 6 is a. detail vertical sectional view of an e ge portion of a door and the adjacent portion of the door frame having a slightly modified form of the invention applied thereto.

In the drawings a portion of the floor of a box car is shown at 2 and of one of the side walls thereof at 3 the door being indicated at 4 and hinged by means of hinge members 5 to the usual car center sill, a portion of which is shown at 6, the door proper being constructed in any convenient manner, being here shown as made up of a number of planks or boards, placed parallel to the hinge axis of the door.

The means by which the joints between the edges of the door and its framing (which in this-case constitutes the car'flooring) are sealed comprises for the hinge side of the door a metallic strip 10 extending along the upper face of the edge portion of the door and having the outer side portion thereof (or that adjacent the door edge) swaged or crim ed up to form a bead of substantially angu ar form in cross section, as shown at 11. Thisbead 11v is adapted to fit up snugly against the under side of a complementary' portion 12 on a strip 13 extending along the door frame over the hinges 5, the angular portion 12 projecting over the door edge and presenting on its underside a recess 0 angular form in cross section within which the bead 11 fits. As shown in Figs. 3 and 5 the usual center strip 14 of the carflooring extends over. this strip with its top flush with the apex of the angular part 12 and its edge beveled to fit against the side thereof. To seal the two side edges of the door a similar arrangement of sealing members is provided comprising door strips 15" having upwardly projecting angular beads 16 fitting'in downwardly facing angular recesses formed on the bent inner edge portions 16 of strips 17 fastened to the door frame and extending along the edges of the door opening. Along these two side edges of the door the sealing strips thereon are preferably bent downwardly as at 18 over the face of the door and then inwardly thereunder as at 19 to constitute battens to which the ends of the planks comprising the door are fastened. It will be noted that these strips also constitute binding members of U-shape in cross-section which fit over the ends of the boards or planks forming the door and prevent them from splitting or being otherwise damaged. As shown at 20 in Fig. 1 both ends of the strips along the hinge edge of the door and the adjacent ends of the strips on the side edges are cut off diagonally to make such ends with their beads and recesses register exactly with one another to form a continuous sealing device extending around threev sides of the door.

While the construction of sealing members, comprising the reglstering bead and recess, may be applied to also seal the free edge of the door, I prefer however, because of the slight obstruction to the discharge of material which would be presented by a bead on the'rfree edge of the door similar to the beads 11 and 16, to employ a displaceable sealing strip to seal such edge which will leave it free and unobstructed when the door is in open position. As here shown this sealing strip comprises an inverted T- bar 20 extending along the free edge of the door with the leg of the T extending up between the door edge and frame and the flanges thereof extending one under the door edge and the other under the adjacent portion 21 of the door frame. This T-bar is mounted near opposite ends on arms 22 hinged as at 23 to the side sill 2 L of the car, or other suitable part.

The door may be operated by a suitable means such as the shaft 25 having one end of a chain 26 attached thereto, the opposite end of the chain being attached to a bracket 27 fastened to the before mentioned inwardly projecting flanges 19, the shaft being rotated by any suitable or well known means not shown, and being supported in slots 28 in the usual transverse sills 29 of the car, these slots inclining upwardly slightly toward the hinge side of the door and having at their outer ends shallow depressions 30 in which the shaft rests when the door is open. As will be seen most readily by referring to Fig. 3 the door and the sealing member are held in closed posltion by the shaft 25 bearing upwardly against the undersides of the arms 22, causing in turn one flange of the sealing member to bear against the door and the other against the frame, thus not only holding the door closed but insuring a tight joint between the door and the sealing member, and between the latter and the door frame.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a modified manner of applying the sealing members to the door. In this modification a sealing strip comprising fiat and angular portions 35 and .36 corresponding to the partslO and 11 is secured to the under face of the door with the part 36 projecting beyond the door and registering with the recess formed on the under side of a strip having flat and angular parts 37 and 38 corresponding to the parts 13 and 12, and secured to the underside of the door frame (indicated here at 39) which is recessed to accommodate the part 38.

As will be apparent I have provided a sealing means for a drop door for cars whereby the joints between the door and frame are efficiently sealed to enable grain or other comniinuted material to be carried by the car while at the same time the car may be used as an ordinary box car without providing a separate flooring as the doors may form part of the car flooring, the sealing members not presenting suflicient 0bstruction to prevent the running of trucks over the flooring or otherwise employing the car as an ordinary box car.

While I believe the detail construction of the displaceable sealing member on the free edge of the door to be novel and have claimed such construction in the appended claims I do not claim broadly the feature of the displaceable member thus applied to the door.

It will be noted that when the door is being closed the edges of the angular recess forming portions 12 and 16 constitute scraping edges which tend to dislodge any material which might remain in the angle formed between the fiat and angular portions of the strips 10 and 15.

I claim:

1. The combination with a door frame inclosing a gravity discharge opening, and a drop door for closing the same, of a pair of sealing members carried by and extending respectively along the sides of the door and frame, one of such members presenting a longitudinal recess whose sides converge inwardly toward one another, and the other having a bead with converging sides adapted to project thereinto.

2. The combination with a door frame inclosing a gravity discharge opening, of a hinged drop door, and a sealin device extending along the hinge side of t e door and comprising tongue and groove members carried respectively by the door and the door frame.

3. The combination with a door frame inclosing a gravity discharge opening, of a sealing member extending along the side of the door frame and having a part projecting over the door edge and presenting a downwardly facing groove whose sides converge inwardly toward one another, and a second member carried by the door and having a head with upwardly converging sides adapt-- ed to project upwardly into the said groove.

4. The combination with a door frame inclosmg a gravity discharge opening, of a metalhc strip earned by and extending along the side of the door frame and having one edge thereof projecting over the door opening and bentfirst upwardly and then downwardly to present a downwardly facing recess of angular cross section extending lengthwise of the strip, and a second metallic strip carried by the door and having one side thereof bent first upwardl and then downwardly to form an upwar ly projecting bead of substantially cone shape 1n cross section adapted to register with the said recess.

5. The combination with a door frame presenting a discharge opening, and a dro door for closing the same, of a pair of sea ing members extending respectively along the side of the door and frame, one of such members presenting a longitudinal groove and the other having a bead adapted to project thereinto, the member upon the door being of U-shape in cross-section and strad dling the edge of the door.

6. The combination with a door frame in closing a door opening, and a hinged drop door-for closing such opening, of a displaceable sealing str p of T-shape in cross-section extending along the free edge of the door, with the leg of the T extending into the space between the door and frame and the flanges thereof projecting one under the door edge and the other under the door frame.

7. The combination with a door frame inclosin a gravity discharge opening, and a hinge drop door for closing the same, of means for sealing the joints between the edges of the door and the sides of the door frame comprising a pair of sealing members one of which is fixed to and extends along the hinged and two adjacent sides of the door, the other being fixed to and extending along the corresponding sides of the door frame, one of such members presenting a longitudinal recess, the other having a bead adapted to project thereinto, and a displaceable sealin member extending along the free edge 0 the door.

8. The combination with a door frame inclosing a gravity discharge opening, and a hinged drop door for closing the same, of means for sealing the joints between the edges of the door andthe sides of the door frame comprising a pair of sealing members one of which is fixed to and extends along the hinged and two adjacent sides of the door, the other being fixed to and extending along the corresponding sides of the door frame, one of such members presenting a longitudinal recess, the other having a bead adapted to project thereinto, and a displaceable sealing member extending along the free edge of the door, such displaceable member comprising a T-bar having flanges extending respectively under the door and door frame.

9. The combination with a door frame inclosing a gravity discharge opening, of a hinged drop door for closmg such opening, and tongue and groove sealing devices carried by the hinged side of the door and adjacent side of the frame and presenting wedge acting flanges. 

